Koniika
by Monkeechickk
Summary: When Kikyo died she left behind a precious gift... It took Kaede over 30 years to ready the young part Demon, but Miroku has plans for the 17 year old daughter of Inuyasha and Kikyo.... Read and review please.(Co-authered by: Kazen ne tsuki)
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters in that fine  
Anime, but I do wish I could take dog-boy home with me... sigh. Ah  
well... such is life.  
  
A/N: Prologue written by Kanzen ne Tsuki. I have take 'a few' liberties  
with the initial episode where Kagome comes out of the well and finds  
Inuyasha 'impaled' to the God Tree... so no flames or gripes. I know  
it's not exactly the same. It's not supposed to be. I have also taken  
'a few' liberties with the part of the story where Kikyo 'kills' Inu and  
then goes to face Naraku. So no flames about that either. You have all  
been duly informed. The concept MonkeyChick and I came up with required  
a few things to be changed... and I added a few twists of my own.  
Anyway, this is meant to be read and enjoyed... not critiqued because it  
doesn't follow the storyline exactly. So... get to reading. I think  
this is going to be a great story. We are planning for a  
Romantic/Comedy, but the stuff that happens before the 'romantic/comedy'  
wasn't exactly funny... so bear with. Lets get through the 'Kikyo  
killed Inuyasha' stuff, and then we can move on to the really good  
stuff. Hope you like.  
God Bless to all.  
Kanzen ne Tsuki  
  
  
Koniika  
  
  
Prologue  
  
  
Pain exploded in blinding white shards inside of his chest as his  
heart was pierced by the enchanted tip of the arrow that had been loosed  
from the Miko's bow. He felt his body being hurtled backward in  
blinding speed, although the world itself seemed to be moving in slow  
motion around him. Brilliant golden, blue, and red starbursts blossomed  
before his eyes as his head struck the heavy trunk of the God Tree, and  
then came the startling jolt of motion being stopped without warning as  
the arrow impaled his helpless body to the aged wood.  
  
'What... I...' His mind was in a state of confusion and pain as he  
struggled to make sense of what had just happened to him, but the life  
was being drained from him by the arrow, and he could feel the seal of  
the Miko being wrapped around his soul binding him to infinity.  
  
Struggling valiantly against the ominous pull of the seal, the  
silver-haired hanyou fought to remain conscious as the fading sight from  
his golden eyes searched frantically for the source of his demise.  
Incredulity crossed his shocked, pain filled features as his gaze at  
last discerned the face of his beloved where she stood some 30 feet  
away. Her bow was hanging limply in her hand where it had dropped  
following her shooting the arrow at him, and her lovely features were  
filled with grief and betrayal as she stared at him through tear filled eyes.  
  
"Kik-yo..." His voice was barely a whisper as it fell upon the  
breeze that fluffed through his silky silver locks. "Why...?"  
  
"Why, Inuyasha?" She choked out in a tight voice as she slowly  
approached him. "Why did you do it? Why did you steal the jewel? I  
would have gladly given it to you if you had asked... I would have  
shared it with you... I would have shared your wish, but you had to  
taint it with your lies and betrayal." Kikyo stopped several feet from  
the dying hanyou and bent over to retrieve something from the thick  
grass. As she stood up, he could just make out the hazy glow of the  
Shikon ne Tama in the palm of her hand. "You had to steal it like the  
filthy hanyou you are. I should have known I could never trust you, not  
as you are... not like this." Her eyes rose and accused him maliciously  
as she hung the jewel around her neck. Lifting her bow, she notched a  
second arrow into place and glared into his pale pleading face. "You  
betrayed me... you betrayed us. I can never forgive you for that.  
Never."  
  
Try as he might, Inuyasha could not make even the smallest of  
sounds. Condemnation was in her eyes, and he knew he was being damned  
for a crime he had not committed. Something was very wrong. He had  
taken the Shikon no Tama, that was true, but he had taken it because he  
had been told she was planning to destroy it and never give it to him.  
Becoming human for her was his greatest wish because it was the only way  
she would really ever love him, and that was what he wanted the most.  
Her love.  
  
The second arrow slammed into his shoulder sending a white hot  
inferno of pain surging through him as it further impaled him to the  
tree, and then, as the tears of his own broken heart began to slip down  
his face, Inuyasha closed his eyes and passed away beneath the seal of  
the Miko's arrows.  
  
  
As it was, Naraku had betrayed both of the Lover's, and when Kikyo  
went to confront the evil magician, they fought in the forest and he  
killed her, leaving her body to rot deep for naught to find but the  
carrion. However, that was not to be the end of her fate, for her young  
sister and a few of the villagers had set out in search of the  
distraught Miko when she did not return from her meeting with Naraku.  
When she found the dead Miko lying among the dead leaves and branches  
beneath a large tree, Kaede discovered that, by some miracle, the body  
was still warm and limp.  
  
With the help of several men from the village, Kaede recovered her  
beloved sister's remains and brought them back to the small hut the two  
of them had shared. Once inside, she had began to take care in  
preparing Kikyo for a proper burial ceremony so that her soul would not  
be left to wander the wastelands looking for its way into the next world. It was  
during these preparations and ritual cleansings of the body that Kaede  
made a startling discovery.  
  
The reason Kikyo's body was still warm was because it was pregnant.   
She was pregnant with another being that obviously had Miko powers  
because it was struggling to keep the body that was supposed to be  
nourishing it alive.  
  
Swiftly the younger Miko had cut open her dead sister's belly and  
retrieved the tiny partially formed fetus, and then, just as swiftly she  
was speaking magical words and spells over the small scrap of flesh that  
still had life in it. As the powerful words filled the room with  
healing magick, the fetus became cocooned it inside of a protective  
shell where it would be safe and could continue to grow until it was old  
enough to be born. It was a secret Kaede would have to keep from the  
rest of the villagers because she was not at all certain what any one of  
them would do if they knew what she had done. But this was her sister's  
child. Her sister's and that hanyou she had loved so much. The  
villagers might look upon it as an abomination and try to kill it, and  
she could not let that happen. This tiny flicker of life was all that  
was left of Kikyo, and she would harbor it for as long as she had to  
until a day came when the child could protect itself.  
  
So, Kikyo was buried and revered as one of the great Miko's of her  
time. Her passing was mourned, and her gifts of healing were sorely  
missed by all who had benefited from them in the past. Kaede was young  
and did not have the experience or the full knowledge, but she stepped  
into her sister's place and tried to perform her Miko duties at the  
shrine as well as she could.  
  
Years passed and the impaled image of the inu-hanyou hanging from  
the God Tree beside the shrine's well became common place for the  
villagers. No longer was the silver-haired man-beast looked upon with  
either disgust or pity. He was simply not looked upon at all. He just  
hung there and became a convenient perch for crows and sparrows, as well  
as the occasional eagle and hawk.  
  
He became a fixture, and no one cared if he stayed up there for the  
rest of eternity. Soon, there was hardly a soul who could remember what  
circumstances had occurred that brought him to that end. It didn't  
matter. It wasn't their concern. He was just a filthy hanyou after  
all.  
#######################  
  
  
"I'm sick of fetching water and gathering these stupid weeds,  
Auntie Kay." The golden-eyed girl with silver streaked, black hair  
humphed at the heavy-set old woman as she plopped down on a big rock and  
tossed her basket on the ground at her feet. "I want to do something  
else for a change. Why can't I go looking for wild blueberries and hazel  
nuts? Why can't I go help Sango fight demons or go swimming or..."  
  
"Koniika-Chan!" Kaede cut the young girl off a little more sharply  
than she wanted to, but if you didn't stop her before she got going, she  
could rattle on endlessly for what seemed like hours and nary take a  
single breath in between. "We aren't gathering weeds." She chided a  
little more gently chuckling when the girl rolled her eyes and sighed.  
"We are gathering 'herbs' for my medicine cupboard. We can go looking  
for berries and nuts another day."  
  
"But..."  
  
"We don't need them right now. There are plenty of both in the  
storage pit, and you know that. You just don't want to do any work  
today." There was a hint of playful scolding in the old woman's voice.  
"And going off demon hunting with Sango is completely out of the  
question. You aren't old enough."  
  
"Old enough?" Koniika spluttered in teen outrage as she jumped to  
her feet. "I'm 14 years old this spring, Auntie Kay. Sango was younger  
than that when she started fighting demons, so how can you say I'm not  
old enough?"  
  
"Because you were not raised by a Demon-hunter. You have been  
raised by a Miko." Kaede raised up front her bent position and winced  
as several of her vertebras crackled and popped in protest. "You barely  
know how to use your bow as it is, and you never practice. You would be  
more of a burden to Sango than a help. So until you become more focused  
and serious about your training, you do not go hunting with anyone...  
except me."  
  
"Awwwwwww, rats! That is so unfair." Koniika kicked at a stone  
that was poking up out of the grass and sent it tumbling away as the  
fuel of her agitation broke it free. "I want to do something exciting,  
Auntie Kay. THIS is not exciting." Kaede chuckled to herself as she  
cast a knowing look over her shoulder at the frustrated teenage.  
  
'You are so much like him,' She thought with a pang in her heart.  
'Stubborn, impetuous, hungry for life, and impatient... oh my, but you  
are impatient. So was he.' Unbidden her single old eye strayed off to  
the west of them toward the shrine and she found herself thinking about  
What secrets still lay out there. 'Excitement she wants, hmmm?' Kaede  
pursed her lips and once more turned to consider the girl who was still  
grousing around about being stuck with the most boring life in the  
world, and she started stewing on a thought she had never allowed  
herself to even touch before. 'Is it time? Would she understand? 'I wonder...'  
  
"Gather up your basket, Niika-chan. We're going somewhere, you and  
I."  
  
"Huh... what... where? Where are we going, Auntie-Kay? Will I  
like it? Have I been there before? How far away is it? Will it take  
very long to get there? Why are we going? What's there? Will we be  
there the rest of the day? What..."  
  
"Koniika!"  
  
"Gomen nasi, Auntie." Koniika grabbed her basket and bounded after  
the ample figure of her Aunt, who had already disappeared into the  
trees. "Wait up, I'm coming!"  
  
"Hurry yourself. The Gods wait for no one... neither do I." A  
smile played at the corners of her mouth as she trudged through the  
brush and undergrowth. It really was a joy having the child in her  
life, and she thanked Kami-sama daily that she had been able to save her  
from Kikyo's dead body.  
  
Growing the fetus had proved to be quite a test of her Miko's  
powers, and it had been an uphill battle keeping it alive and nourished  
inside of its psuedo-womb of magick until it was old enough to be  
'born'. That process had ended up taking years instead of months.  
Thirty-six years to be exact, and then it had been one of the most  
intricate and powerful spells she had ever preformed to 'birth' the  
babe. The Gods had been with her the night she brought a screaming,  
catter-wauling Koniika into the world of the living. The little hanyou  
pup had been healthy and perfectly formed with ten fingers and ten toes.  
She would have passed for completely human if not for her overly large  
golden eyes and small black puppy ears on top of her head.  
  
Kaede had had to wait for a few years to pass before she could see  
what other hanyou traits the girl would develop, and was pleased to find  
they were few. Though her fingernails were a little overly long, they  
did not turn into claws, and, although she had fangs, they were smaller  
as well. Her hair grew in thick and silky and was a strange black and  
silver mixture of both of her parents, but its fullness all but hid the  
satiny pearls of her delicate ears. However, her heightened sense of  
smell had been inherited fully intact, as was her forced monthly  
transformation into a full human when the moon waxed new. The first few  
years had been trying, to say the least, as Kaede had struggled to  
provide as much love and reassurance to the little hanyou as she could  
during those vulnerable times. Eventually Koniika got used to the  
transformations, although she still felt naked and weak without her  
sense of smell when it disappeared, and it was at those times that Kaede  
wished Inuyasha were still alive so he could help the little girl through this  
difficult transition of her life. But that was not to be, so the old  
Miko did the best she could, and the two of them grew very close.  
  
It had been easy to tell the villagers that she'd found the babe  
abandoned in the forest. No one ever questioned her otherwise, and the  
fact that the infant was only partially hanyou did not seem to bother  
anyone. So, the subject was never brought up, and everyone watched as  
Koniika grew up into a beautiful girl. One that many of the young men  
were starting to show a romantic interest in. It seemed the days of  
being the 'hated hanyou' were not what they used to be.  
  
"How long will it take us to get there?" The breathless voice of  
the girl brought the old woman's mind back to the present as she came  
jogging up next to her. "Is it very far? Where are we going, I mean,  
is it going to take a long time to get there?" Her golden eyes filled  
with mischief and anticipation as Koniika bounced and jumped over rocks  
and fallen branches while making a general nuisance of herself. Kaede  
chuckled and shook her head. 'Impatient.'  
  
"I'm talking you to the shrine, little jack-rabbit."  
  
"The Shrine?" The squeal of surprise and delight made the old  
woman flinch, and then she was being smothered in a huge hug as the teen  
attacked her in unbridled excitement. "We've never been to The Shrine  
before. You said we couldn't go there... that it was full of sad  
memories and old ghosts... are we really going there? Really and  
truly?"  
  
"Hai. Really and truly." She hugged the gushing teenager as she  
bounced away and then bounced back. "But you must remember everything I  
told you, Niika-chan. The Shrine is full of old memories and most of  
them are either sad or bad, and the ghosts that live there are  
unsettled. We must be respectful. Always remember that, young one. Respect the  
dead and those who suffer, for one day we may need their help or we may  
be among them."  
  
"I will remember." A shade subdued, Koniika let herself think  
about what her Aunt had said, and as she did, she remembered some of the  
old ghost stories she had heard when she was a little girl. One story  
in particular stood out in her mind, and as they walked through the dim  
forest, Koniika turned her questioning eyes upon the stout figure of her  
companion. "Is there really a man's soul hanging from the God Tree out  
there, Auntie Kay?"  
  
"Where did you hear that?" Kaede's head turned sharply and her eye  
flashed stunned anger and apprehension for a moment. "Who told you that  
story?"  
  
"I... I don't remember, Auntie." Koniika warily shied away in  
confusion from her Aunts sudden emotional surge. That was not like her  
at all. "It was just a story the kids used to tell when I was little...  
it was supposed to be a scary story, but I wasn't ever really scared by  
it."  
  
"You weren't? Why not?" The old Miko's eye turned stern as she  
surveyed the young girls worried face. "Why wouldn't you be afraid  
after hearing a tale about a man's soul hanging in a tree? I should  
think it would be very frightening for a little girl."  
  
"I don't know." Koniika shrugged and looked down at her feet as  
they walked onward through the trees. "I just wasn't. Some of the  
other kids used to have nightmares about him, but I never did." She  
chanced a quick look at the old woman and found her staring forward with  
an impassive look on her face. "But I did have dreams about him  
sometimes... they just weren't bad dreams."  
  
"What kind of dreams did you have, Koniika-chan? What did you  
dream when you saw 'the man in the tree'?"  
  
"Well," Her delicate hand came up and wiped a few stray strands of  
hair out of her face, and then she started to chew on her fingernail as  
she thought. "I would dream that I could see him hanging up there, you  
know, by those arrows that are supposed to be holding him to the tree...  
and then this really pretty woman with long black hair and strange  
clothes crawls out of the well and walks over to the tree. She stands  
there and looks at him for a long time, and then she reaches up and  
pulls the arrows out."  
  
"She pulls the arrows out? Is that what you said? She pulls the  
arrows OUT?" Kaede's voice turned astonished and her hand rose to cover  
her mouth.  
  
"Hai. Why? Does that mean something?" Koniika stared at Kaede's  
face and saw that it had gone pasty gray. "Auntie, are you all right?"  
  
"Hai. Go one. What else did you see? Tell me the rest." Kaede  
stopped walking and turned to face the concerned young girl. "I want to  
know what else you saw."  
  
"But are you sure you're all right?" Koniika's concern was growing  
by the minute, and her large amber eyes were round with worry as she  
searched the old woman's face.  
  
"Hai. Hai. Go on. Onegai, Koniika-chan. Tell me the rest of  
your dream."  
  
"Well, after she pulls out the arrows, he falls to the ground and  
lays there for a few minutes, and then he gets up..."  
  
"He's alive??" Shock and disbelief filled Kaede's voice as she  
reached out and grabbed both of Koniika's shoulders. "Are you certain?   
He was alive?"  
  
"Hai. He had to fight a centipede youkai that came out of the well  
after the woman and attacked her." Koniika grasped onto Kaede's upper  
arms trying to steady them both as the old woman teetered on her feet.  
"Auntie Kay, what's wrong?"  
  
"He... he fought a...a..."  
  
"A centipede youkai... killed it with his bare hands." Koniika was  
staring into her Aunts pale pasty face with growing alarm as the old  
woman became more and more upset. "Just jumped on its back and slashed  
it to pieces with his bare hands."  
  
"Oh my God..." Kaede collapsed onto her knees and covered her face  
with her hands.  
  
"Auntie Kay!?" Koniika was kneeling in front of her in a heartbeat  
fanning her with her hands. "What's wrong? What did I say? What did I  
do? Auntie Kay!?"  
  
"It's all right, Niika-chan. It's all right. I'm all right."  
Kaede reached out to comfort the frightened girl as best she could  
considering the state of her own heart and mind. 'It's time she knew.  
It's time.' "Niika-chan, I have something to tell you, and it is going  
to be very hard for you to hear, youngling. Very hard, but you have to  
know."  
  
"What do you mean, Auntie? Why is it going to be hard? What are  
you going to tell me?" Koniika's voice was filled with trepidation, and  
Kaede could see the wary shift of fear beginning to show in her eyes.  
"What's happening? What does my dream mean? Who is the man pinned to  
the God Tree?"  
  
"It is time I told you who you really are, and where you really  
came from, Isshi-chan."  
  
"Wh-what?" Koniika sat stunned, staring at the only stability she  
had ever known in her life and suddenly feeling as if the world were  
spinning so fast she was going to fall off. "Where I came from? You  
found me in the woods when I was a pup... didn't you?"  
  
"No. I didn't." Kaede heaved a heavy sigh and searched for the  
words to help her explain the unexplainable. "You are not a foundling  
as I told you, you were... you are the blood child of my older sister who  
has been dead these fifty years."  
  
"Fif... fifty years?" Koniika stuttered in disbelief as her mind  
tried to reject the thought that her birth mother had been dead longer  
than she had been alive. "That is impossible. I'm only fourteen."  
  
"I know... it is very complicated, Niika-chan, but you must believe  
me. It is true." Reaching out, Kaede grasped one of her nieces cold  
hands within her warmer one. "I cut you from her dead body with my own  
hands, and then I kept you alive within a womb made of magick until  
you were developed enough to be born."  
  
"A womb of magick?" Wide golden eyes stared without really seeing.  
"How... how long?"  
  
"Over thirty years... it was not a natural place for a fetus to  
grow, and it was difficult to maintain and keep you nourished so it took  
so much longer, but I never gave up until the day I finally birthed you  
into this world." Tears glistened in the old woman's eye as she gazed at  
the beautiful girl she had grown to love so dearly. "I never gave up."  
  
"You... you grew me, and then... then you 'birthed' me... with  
magick?"   
  
"It was the only way; otherwise, you would have died with both of  
your parents, and I would have been left with nothing." Kaede's head  
bowed in humility and love. "I didn't want to lose you too, so I saved  
you the only way I could."  
  
"Oh Auntie Kay." Koniika's arms reached out and wrapped around the  
old woman and pulled her tightly into her strong embrace. "Thank-you.   
Thank-you for loving me enough to 'grow' me for all those years." She  
kissed the wrinkled cheek and tasted salty tears. "I love you too."  
And then something dawned on her. Something Kaede had said just a moment  
ago.  
  
"You said both of my parents died, Auntie." Koniika's voice sounded  
small and uncertain as she pressed her face into the old Miko's neck.  
"Is that true?"  
  
"Hai... it is true. They both died that same day." Kaede pulled  
back and looked Koniika directly in the face. "Your Mother was my  
sister, Kikyo. She was a powerful and gifted Miko, but she was  
uncertain in her life and dissatisfied with place she had been given.  
She wanted more... she wanted a normal life. She wanted to be a wife  
and a mother... and one day, she fell in love with a handsome, gallant  
inu-hanyou named Inuyasha, who loved her more than anyone could say. He  
loved her so much, he stole the Shikon no Tama so he could wish to  
become a full human. You see," Kaede pulled the girl back into her arms  
and held her close. "That was the only way Kikyo would allow them to be  
together. She wouldn't become his wife as long as he was a hanyou, and  
so he took the jewel. But, they were both betrayed. Naraku set a trap  
for Inuyasha forcing him to steal the jewel by making him believe that  
Kikyo was going to use it against him, and Kikyo believed he had  
betrayed their love and meant to destroy the jewel altogether, and so  
when Inuyasha took the Shikon no Tama from the shrine, Kikyo was there  
waiting for him. Inuyasha died at your Mother's hands. However, she  
soon discovered that she had killed him needlessly, and so she went in  
search of Naraku to exact her vengeance upon him. But Naraku destroyed  
her. I found her in the woods shortly after, and managed to salvage you  
from her body."  
  
"Auntie Kay?" Koniika's voice was barely above a whisper.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"It's my Father who's pinned to the tree by those arrows, isn't  
it?" Koniika burrowed closer to the warmth beneath her cheek. "Inuyasha  
was my Father, wasn't he?"  
  
"Hai, Niika-chan. It is Inuyasha who was your Father, and it is  
his body and soul that are sealed to the God Tree by Kikyo's Miko's  
arrows. I think perhaps that is why you are having dreams about him.  
You inherited some of your Mother's Miko powers, but you are also  
connected to your Father through your hanyou blood. But I do not understand this  
dream you have had. I do not understand how Inuyasha can be alive."  
  
"I clearly saw a woman releasing him, Auntie Kay, can't he be  
released?" Pulling away, Koniika looked deeply into her Aunts face  
searching for an answer to question that really had no answer.  
  
"He can be released, Niika-chan, but only by the hand that put him  
there. He can only be released by Kikyo... and she is dead." Kaede's  
face was bewildered as she gazed at the young hanyou girl. "I do not  
understand. Who is this woman you have seen? How is it that she was  
able to release him? And why did she crawl out of the well? So many  
questions, youngling, and no answers. I am not even sure if there are  
any answers to find."  
  
"Then let's go to the shrine and see what we shall see." Koniika  
said in a firm and decisive voice as she stood up and pulled the old  
woman up with her. "Perhaps that is why we are going there today.  
Perhaps we are meant to see my Father being released, and if that is  
what is meant to happen there today, then it will... so, lets not be  
late. Come on... like you said, God waits for no one, and neither do  
we."  
#######################  
  
  
Dreams. A thousand-thousand dreams, and each one almost the same.  
Hazy figures in the shifting fog moving in and out of his perspective as  
time slipped away and became nothing more than the eternal fight to draw  
one breath of air. Faces of those he knew; those who would seek his  
life, those who would reject him for what he was, those who had loved  
him. 'Kikyo...'  
  
Always the thoughts of her brought excruciating pain to him as his  
heart and mind rejected the images that floated to the surface of his  
memory soup.  
  
'The jewel... the arrows... the pain... betrayed...  
nooooooooooooooo... onegai, Kami- sama, no, it's not true. I'm not  
dead, I'm not dead, I'm not de... Kikyo! Stop! Don't! Nooo!'  
  
Faces of old women and children swam before him, but always there  
were two faces that seemed to stay the closest. They were special to  
him, although he knew not why. All he understood was they were somehow  
a part of his soul, and when they drifted past him in the fog, he would  
desperately try to reach out and pull them back to him.  
  
The girl, a beautiful ebon haired hanyou pup, would stay the  
longest with him. She had started coming when she was just a tiny thing  
barely even a bundle of flesh, but as time moved onward, she had  
changed. She had grown into an infant, then a child, and now a young  
girl. Her large golden youkai eyes haunted his dreams, even as her  
laughter seemed to forever float upon the breeze that swirled around his  
mind. She was precious to him, precious to his thoughts and the sanctity  
of his soul, and precious to his heart. He did not know who she was,  
but he knew she was connected to him somehow and her presence brought  
him a measure of comfort.  
  
'Koniika.' He knew her name, though he was not sure how he knew  
it. It had just come to him one day as he had gazed lovingly upon her  
gentle beauty. 'Koniika. Who are you, my Koishii? Where do you come  
from, and where to you go when you leave me? Why can't I follow you  
there? I miss you when you're gone. Koniika? Where are you? Do you  
hear me when I talk to you? Can you see me the way I can see you? Are  
you there? Koniika? Are you there?'  
###############  
  
She was lying in the bottom of the well. She could smell the musty  
odor of damp earth all around her, but she couldn't figure out how she  
had gotten down here.  
  
'What the heck...' She sat up and rubbed her head feeling the egg  
sized lump that was forming on the back of her skull. Wincing at the  
tenderness, she gently massaged the bruised flesh, and then looked up to  
see what was happening.   
  
Above her she could easily make out the opening of the well and saw  
daylight and sky peaking through. "Daylight? How...?" Confusion  
filled her mind as she tried to figure out how daylight and blue sky  
could be showing above the well when the well was located in the shed.  
"What's going on here?" The sound of her own voice echoing around her  
was a little disturbing, and she felt goosebumps popping out along her  
arms and the back of her neck. 'I gotta get out of here and find out  
what the heck is going on.' She thought with a decisive shake of her  
head, and then proceeded to start looking for a way out.

The frayed end of a rope bumped into the back of her tender head,  
and she flinched at the tingle of pain that fingered across her scalp at  
the unexpected contact. But looking at the rope, she could see that it  
appeared to be tied to the cross-bar at the opening of the well, and  
when she tugged on it, it seemed to be fairly sturdy. So, taking a deep  
breath to calm her nerves, she gripped the rope in both hands and  
started to pull herself up the stone-covered wall.  
  
It was slow going because she didn't have that much upper body  
strength, but by sheer will and determination, she gritted her teeth and  
kept going until she pulled herself over the edge of the well.  
Breathing heavily from the unusual exertion, she flopped down in the  
grass and closed her eyes for a moment trying to calm her body and catch  
her breath.  
  
"Let's not... do... that again... for a while." She huffed as she  
wiped sweat off her brow with the sleeve of her white uniform shirt.   
The green skirt she wore was flapping slightly in the breeze which  
helped to cool her body off somewhat, but she kept her other hand  
pressing it against her leg lest it blow upward and expose her lower  
body. An ironic giggle bubbled out of her throat as the thought  
occurred to her. 'Who do I think is going to see me anyway? I don't  
even know where the heck I am. For all I know, I could be on another  
planet or in the middle of the dark ages somewhere, and there aren't any  
people around for miles. So, why am I so worried that somebody is going  
to see my underwear? Sheesh! Kagome, you are so goofy sometimes.' She  
giggled again and then sat up crossing her legs Indian style, stuffing  
her skirt between her thighs.  
  
Her laughter abruptly ceased as she started to look around the area  
she was setting in. She almost recognized it. There was a small mud  
and stone building in front of her, and the markings on the wall beside  
the door unmistakably named it as the Shrine to Kami-sama, but it was  
not the Shrine she remembered. Standing up, Kagome walked apprehensively  
over to the smaller building and tentatively reached out and touched the  
kanji symbols.  
  
"I... I don't understand." She whispered in a very worried and  
confused voice. "How can this be?" And then she turned around only to  
gasp and cover her mouth in horrified astonishment. There beside the  
well stood the God Tree, just like it was supposed to be. Only it was  
smaller and younger, and this God Tree had something else very different  
about it.  
  
There was a man with long silver-white hair, wearing a brilliant  
red hauri and hakima hanging from it. Unsteady feet carried her closer  
to the unexpected spectacle, and when she reached the well, Kagome  
looked up and found her eyes filling with tears. Two arrows protruded  
from the man's chest. One from his right shoulder area, and the other from his  
heart. He hung limp like a ragdoll, his arms and legs dangling in the  
air moving gently with the force of the breeze that blew past them. His  
face was beautiful, flawless, and perfect, and when she reached up to  
touch his hand, it was faintly warm beneath her skin.  
  
"Oh my God... you're alive!" She exclaimed in an alarmed whisper.  
"How can you be alive with two arrows in your chest? I... how?" Her  
eyes were even with his chest, and so she watched carefully for any  
movement, but was equally stunned when she saw none. "You're warm but  
you don't breath? What the hell is going on here?" Impulsively Kagome  
reached out and grabbed the arrow in his shoulder and tried to pull it  
out.  
  
A strange feeling of vibrating energy rumbled through her, and for  
a moment she thought she saw herself shooting this arrow and pinning  
this man to the tree. 'Insane.' She shook her head and reinforcing her  
grip on the shaft, pulled harder. The arrow came free all at once and  
Kagome almost fell to the ground, but managed to right herself at the  
last moment as she stumbled back several feet. 'Wow... that was weird.'  
Looking down at the arrow, she expected to see it covered with blood and  
tissue, but was further bewildered to find it clean with the obsidian  
tip reflecting the sunlight brightly. Large blue-gray eyes narrowed in  
suspicious confusion, and putting the arrow down, she marched back over  
to the man and yanked the second arrow out of his heart. It was just as  
clean as the first, and there was no blood on the man's clothing.  
  
She watched as he fell to the ground in a red heap of arms, legs,  
and billowing white hair. This was certainly turning into a very strange  
day for her. More than strange actually. It was becoming down right  
extraordinary, but Kagome didn't have long to ponder upon that  
particular realization because at that moment, all of her internal warning  
signals began to scream. 'LOOK BEHIND YOU! RUN! RUN! RUN!'.  
  
Watching one's life pass before one's eyes is a humbling  
experience, especially when it doesn't take very long to watch it.  
Kagome's life flashed before her in a split instant, and then she was  
dodging to the left like lightening and running for the safety of the  
Shrine. When she hazarded a look over her shoulder, she realized she  
wasn't going to make it.  
  
The huge slathering jaws of the most enormous centipede she had  
ever seen were bearing down upon her from some fifty feet in the air,  
and the menacing sounds of growling and snapping fangs was getting  
closer with every frightened breath she took. 'It's going to eat me!'  
Instinctively she veered off sharply to her right and then back behind the beast  
frantically looking for somewhere to hide. Almost too swiftly, the  
over-sized insect was right back on top of her. The smell of its putrid  
breath was all over her, and as she cut off to the left, panic seized  
her. She screamed.  
  
The terrified sound split the serene quiet of the woods surrounding  
the Shrine, but it seemed to be the catalyst that was needed to push  
everything forward so Fate could achieve what it had planned for over  
400 years.  
  
A horrible growling roar filled the air and Kagome screamed again  
as she jerked once more to the left. Her eyes grew round and her voice  
dropped silent when she beheld the silver haired man she had just freed  
from the God Tree leaping into the air and landing in the middle of the  
giant centipedes back. The great claws she had not noticed on his hands  
were suddenly slashing and tearing into the beasts flesh, and it began  
bucking and thrashing trying to throw the man off as it screamed in pain  
and terror. But he seemed to be all but glued to its body, and he  
continued to roar and slash until, with one final bloody cry, the  
centipede slumped to the ground defeated, and quite dead.  
  
The silver haired man jumped off and walked around to the front of  
the beast where he growled and took a slashing swipe at its' head. When  
he came back, he was holding one of the long fangs in his bloody hand.  
  
"Are you all right?" His voice was a low tenor as he spoke, and  
Kagome realized he was speaking clear Japanese to her, although his  
accent was a little odd sounding. "Hey, you... wench. I asked you if  
you were all right?"  
  
"Ummm... yes. I'm fine... what... what just happened?" Her face  
was a mask of confusion as she stared into the largest eyes she had ever  
seen. Their golden color held her transfixed on his face and she was  
unaware of the look of astonishment that covered hers.  
  
"Looks to me like I just saved your ass." His brows furrowed as he  
watched her looking at him. "What's your problem?" His voice turned  
harsh and there was the hint of a growl behind his waspish question.  
"Haven't you ever seen a hanyou before?"  
  
"A... A hanyou? What's a hanyou?" Looking at her with sneering  
incredulity, the man snorted and shook his head. That's when she  
noticed them. "You have... ears." She exclaimed before she could stop  
herself. "You have dog ears."  
  
"Well duh." The look he gave her was scathing. "I'm a inu-hanyou,  
you stupid wench. What else would I have?" Suddenly Kagome realized  
just how rude he was being to her when she was nothing more than  
surprised, and a wave of anger washed over her.  
  
"Listen you... you... you hanyou, or whatever you are." She spat  
as she shoved a finger into his stunned face. "I don't know what things  
are like here where you live, but where I come from, you treat strangers  
with a little more respect and courtesy than this. I wasn't trying to  
insult you or anything else you might be thinking. I was surprised, I  
have never seen a person like you before, and... and it's strange. I'm  
sorry if I hurt your feelings. If I did, it was unintentional. And by  
the way," She maneuvered herself so that she was up in his shocked face.  
"Don't call me a wench!"  
  
Glowering down at her, he turned and shuffled away a few feet.  
"You're welcome." He muttered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're welcome." He threw over his shoulder as he stuffed the  
centipede fang into his sleeve.  
  
"For what?" She walked over to him and looked at his scowling  
face. "What are you 'you're welcoming' me for?"  
  
"For saving your stupid life, wench. That's what. Or didn't you  
notice that I kept that fucking bug from eating you alive back there?"  
  
Kagome blushed in embarrassment. In her outrage over his rudeness,  
she had completely forgotten to thank him for saving her from that less  
than desirable demise. "I... I'm sorry. I should have said 'Thank-  
you'. I really do appreciate it... I mean, I'd be dead if you hadn't  
helped me out." Standing on tip-toe, she gave him a brief kiss on the  
cheek. "Thank-you."  
  
He froze where he stood and didn't move so much as an eyelash.  
'Did she just kiss my cheek?'  
  
"And by the way... you're welcome too."  
  
"Huh...? What? What for?" He stared at her like she'd grown two  
heads.  
  
"For unpinning you from the God Tree, stupid." She laughed, a lite  
and lilting sound as his mouth dropped open in stunned surprise.  
"What's the matter? Did you forget that's where you used to be?"  
  
"I... I guess I did." Confusion colored his fine features as he  
turned and looked at the tree. "I remember..." The quiet shift of his  
voice caught her attention, and as he walked away toward the tree, she  
followed him. "I remember taking the jewel... and running."  
  
"Running? Where were you running, and what jewel are you talking  
about?"  
  
"I... I was running back to the village so I could make my wish...  
so I could... so I could be human, but... but I..." He stuttered to a  
halt and looked down at his feet. One of the arrows lay beside him and  
he bent down to pick it up. "She shot me... I remember, she shot me."  
  
"Who? Who shot you? What is going on? Who are you anyway, and  
where is this place?" Kagome felt a disturbance in the air around them,  
and the prickles on her skin got worse. Something very strange was  
happening, something that she could not control, and for some reason,  
she felt like her mind was turning itself inside out. She was seeing  
things. things like her shooting those arrows, making love with a  
handsome silver haired hanyou, fighting a frightening dark man who split  
her heart in half with a burst of black light, floating in a boat on the  
river with...  
  
"Kikyo... Kikyo shot me and sealed me to that tree." As his hand  
formed a fist, the shaft of the arrow snapped in half. "She said I..."  
  
"... betrayed her." Kagome shook her head and placed her hands  
over her temples as a thousand images flashed through her mind all at  
once. "You stole the Shikon no Tama... you betrayed her... she loved  
you, and you betrayed her... Inuyasha."  
  
Inuyasha stared at the ebon haired girl standing beside him and  
felt the prickling of spiritual awareness flutter across his skin. "How  
do you know that?" He hissed between clenched teeth. "How do you know  
my name? Who the fuck are you, and where did you come from?"  
  
"I... I fell into the well in the shed..." She slumped to the  
ground and sat on her folded legs. "I woke up with a bump on my head,  
and when I climbed out... I was here, in this place. I don't even know  
where 'here' is."  
  
"This is Japan, wench. Where do you think this is?"  
  
"But it's not the Japan I know. It's not the place I come from. I  
don't understand any of this..." Silently she began to cry. "I don't  
know how I got here, and I don't know how I know your name... but I feel  
things inside of me like I already know you, and I can see things in my  
head that look like memories. I can see me shooting you with the  
arrows... I can hear me talking to you, and telling you you betrayed  
me... I can feel the anger and the hatred and the... the pain." Watery  
blue eyes lifted and looked up at his sharp features asking him to try  
and understand. "I loved you... she.... she loved you, but you weren't  
what she wanted... you weren't... you weren't..."  
  
"I wasn't human." Inuyasha dropped to the ground beside the  
distraught girl who was suddenly looking at him with eyes that looked  
all to familiar. "I was a filthy hanyou... and even though she'd let me  
love her, she wouldn't let me marry her because I wasn't human." The  
pain in his heart was there, openly exposed for her eyes to see, and Kagome  
reached out her hand and touched his face. "I wasn't good enough for  
her."  
  
"She was wrong, Inuyasha. She should have trusted you, and she  
knew that... after."  
  
"After?" His golden eyes looked at the girl with childlike doubt  
as he inched closer to her. "After what?"  
  
"After she killed you... she knew it was wrong. She knew it was a  
mistake, but it was too late. She went after the one who was  
responsible, and he killed her... she paid for taking your life  
unjustly. She paid with her own life. You died together that day."  
  
"Kikyo..." The name was a choked whisper as the hanyou turned away  
and stared off into the blue blankness of the sky. "Why didn't you  
trust me? Why couldn't you believe in me? Why?"  
  
"Because... you were a hanyou."  
  
"Fuck that. It was always because I was a hanyou. Everything was  
because I was a hanyou." He snarled and Kagome got her first look at  
his very real canine fangs. "If she had let me have the jewel so I  
could make my wish... I would have been human and we could have been  
together... we could have gotten married... we could have had children  
instead of the pups she was so afraid of. But, she didn't trust me...  
because I was a hanyou."  
  
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha." Kagome put her hand out and gently laid it  
on the tense muscles of his back. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"Feh!" He snapped. "What do you know about it, wench?"  
  
"I think I know everything, you rude, foul mouthed hanyou... I  
think I'm HER all over again, but not exactly the same because I'm me  
too, and I don't feel the same as she did." She felt him shiver beneath  
her touch, but he did not pull away. "I think Kikyo has been  
reincarnated in me... but I'm no Miko... I'm just a sixteen year old  
school girl that got caught in a time warp or something. That's all I  
know."  
  
"But you are wrong, Jou-chan." Kagome and Inuyasha both spun  
around at the sound of another voice invading their small space of the  
world, and both wore the same expression of shock and confusion as they  
looked at the one eyed old woman who was accompanied by a very pretty  
black-haired young girl. "You are a powerful Miko. If you were not,  
you would have never come back through the well from your time into  
ours, and you would not have had the strength to pull the arrows out and  
free Inuyasha from the God Tree you pinned him to 50 years ago."  
  
"Wha... 50 years?" Kagome shook her head in complete puzzlement.  
"But I have never been here before, I don't even know where 'here' is...  
Where am I?"  
  
"Back in Feudal Japan, Jou-chan. Back in the days of demons,  
wizards, and spirit magick." Kaede knelt down on the grass in front of  
Kagome and gently reached out and took her hand. "You have been reborn  
with the soul of my dear sister, Kikyo, who lies dead in the ground  
these fifty years."  
  
"Your sister... fifty...Who the hell are you, old woman?" Inuyasha  
growled menacingly at the old Miko who wore a patch over one eye, and  
when she turned to look at him, something deep inside of his soul  
stirred and he felt a familiar brush of energy touch his soul. "K-  
Kaede...?" He whispered as he looked at the hefty body, the gray hair,  
the pudgy wrinkled face... the one eye. "Is that you in there?"  
  
"Hai. Inuyasha. It is I. Kaede. Though I am much changed from  
the girl you remember."  
  
"Hai. That you are." He stared at her through astonished golden  
orbs and then turned and looked upon Kagome again. "It's true then.  
I've been sealed to the God Tree for fifty years, and Kikyo is dead?"  
  
"Hai. I am sorry." Kaede watched as the hanyou bowed his head and  
clenched his jaw. "It was just as the Jou-chan said. She went to get  
vengeance upon Naraku for his part in causing her to unjustly kill you,  
and, as a result, she was killed as well."  
  
"You said 'I' killed him?" Kagome drew Kaede's attention back to  
her. "Do you really believe I am Kikyo reborn?"  
  
"Of course, Jou-chan. If you were not, you would not have been  
about to pull the arrows from his body. You would not have even been  
able to touch them."  
  
"If that is true, then why didn't Kikyou remove them herself when  
she discovered that she'd struck Inuyasha unjustly?"  
  
"Because, her heart was dark and filled with hate and grief. Only  
a Miko with the light of life and purity can remove a sealing arrow."  
Kaede's gaze shifted to the girl kneeling next to her, and though the  
dark head was bent in respect, the hands were clutching each other  
ferociously. "Perhaps you were meant to come back to us at this moment  
in time, Jou-chan. There is much that needs to be done, and I am  
getting old without a proper healer to replace me. Kikyo was a powerful  
healer, and with her soul, so shall you be as well."  
  
"I don't understand." Kagome sighed and rubbed her aching  
forehead. "I'm not a Miko."  
  
"Perhaps not now, but you will be." Kaede patted the delicate hand  
she held and then turned her gaze back to the speechless hanyou. "And  
you, my silver haired friend. There is much for you to do as well, and  
it is about time you stood up and did it."  
  
"What are you talking about, old woman? I've been dead for fifty  
years. What could I possibly have to do that needs doing?"  
  
"Inuyasha..." Kaede slowly turned to the silent girl kneeling next  
to her, and taking one of her taut cold hands within hers, gently  
reached out and pulled one of the hanyou's over and placed them  
together. "I want to introduce you to your daughter... Koniika."  
  
The moment flesh touched flesh he knew. When she raised her face,  
and looked at him with those incredible golden eyes, he knew. The face,  
the silver streaked black mane, the smile, the delicate black pearl tips  
of her ears, her scent; he knew. He remembered.  
  
"Koniika..." Her name was the prayer of lost soul as he reached  
out and pulled her into his arms. Her scent assailed his senses, and he  
inhaled of her deeply catching the faintest nuance of himself within the  
odor that was her. "Koniika... sweet, Koniika." Inuyasha shuddered as  
he felt the heat of his blood rise in recognition of her connection to  
him, and he burrowed deeply inside of her thick hair until his nose was  
pressed against the thundering pulse in her throat.  
  
"Otousan... papa... you know me?" Koniika wrapped her arms around  
the body of the fierce looking stranger who really wasn't a stranger at  
all. His scent, his warmth, his touch; everything about him screamed to  
her that he was her Father, and as the tears of her joy flowed down her  
face, she let her heart sing.  
  
The circle that had been broken by distrust, hatred, and betrayal  
had been mended at last, and Fate smiled down upon the reunited family  
in pleased satisfaction. There was much yet to be done, and many  
hardships to face, but through perseverance they should be able to  
conquer whatever life tossed their way.  
  
Unless of course, it happened to be the combination of a Father and  
daughter who were only three years apart in age, a reincarnated Mother  
who was trying to get ready for high school exams 450 years in the  
future, while studying to be a Miko 450 years in the past , and an over  
sexed monk-would be suitor who had never heard about the possessiveness  
that Inu-hanyou's felt over their pups.  
  
It was 3 years and Naraku's demise later that all of these things  
would be put to the test, and the world would at last discover just how  
short was an Inu-youkai's temper after all, and just how fast could a  
Monk run in those robes anyway. And was friendship thicker than blood,  
or would Monk be on the dinner menu? And was the voice of reason ever  
heard above the din of roaring threats and curses, or did the world sway  
in favor of the irrational, outraged, blood seeking, head hunting hanyou  
Father's?  
  
Hmmmm... Good questions. It appeared the world was about to find  
out. The hard way.  
  
#############################  
  
That's it for me for now, kiddies. I hope you liked it. I know it was  
sort of angsty and stuff for what is supposed to be a romantic comedy...  
But there were issues that had to be cleared up... you know, issues.  
Anywhoo... now Koniika is 17, and Inuyasha 20, and Kagome is 19. Enter  
Miroko, the pervert.  
Let the groping begin................................ Tsuki-san


	2. Chapter one

Koniika

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi does.

Traveling down a dirt road, the 19-year-old monk Miroku heard travelers speaking of a new geisha house in the next town over. _And again I thank the heavens for making me a male. _ Miroku quickly changed the direction of which he was traveling and headed for the next town to the east.

The seconds seemed as hours as his hormones raged with the need of a fresh new geisha. That is until he had turned a corner to find a woman walking barefoot, long black hair with silver strands. _She cannot be an old woman...why does she have silver hair then? _He watched the gentle sway of her hips as she walked in the same direction that he too was headed. At that time he had noticed that she was carrying a basket of herbs and looked to be struggling. "Hello, miss, would you care for some help?"

"Don't ail me so Monk, I do not need help! I can do this on my own." Koniika spat as she looked over her shoulder. She had been straining energy the past week due to the moon already changing to the most hated night of a month for her. "Did you not hear me?"

"Hai, I did crystal clear." Miroku said in a cool calm voice as he watched her walk ahead of him. _Moody broad isn't she?_ He thought in his head muffling a snicker.

Koniika set down the basket and faced the Monk, she then placed her small hands on her dainty hips, "Then why do you follow me?" She took notice to how handsome he was and blushed. "Enlighten me, please."

"I am headed in the same direction as you, excuse my rudeness, allow me to introduce myself." Miroku grinned, "I am Miroku, always at the aid of young ladies such as your self and you are?"

Koniika's left eyebrow lifted, "Why would you like to know?"

"I would like to know the name of my son's mother..."

"Lecher!" Koniika shouted as she turned to pick up her basket. "Stay at least 50 paces behind me you pig!" She then started walking away more like stomping away. _Why the nerve of that Monk, he...he... is cute, Gah! What are you saying he just tried to seduce you upon meeting you._

"So it's fair to assume that you don't want the liberties of baring my son." Miroku shouted after the quickly disappearing woman.

"Way more than fair!" She shouted over her shoulder.

Kagome sat in Kaede's hut wrapping the herbs Koniika had just brought home. Kagome had nodded along as Koniika had told her about the trip she had today until Koniika had told her about what the Monk had said, "He what?!"

Koniika sighed then explained again, "He tried to seduce me! He asked my name and said the reason for asking was so he knew the name of his son's mothers." Koniika made sure not to speak so loudly so that her father had not heard.

"Well did you tell him your name?" Kagome asked hoping that the 17-year-old Koniika had enough commonsense to not give her name to such a foul man.

"Of coarse I didn't what do you take me for? But he did tell me his name," She sat and thought of the name, "Miroku."

Kagome sighed heavily before whispering, "Let's not let your father know about this incident, for the safety of all monks."

"Just what I was thinking." Koniika had nodded then sat back. "He didn't look like a Monk though, more like a adult with hormone issues."

"What are you woman talking about?" came the voice of Inuyasha as he entered the hut. "How was your trip Koniika?"

"It was tiring but you know that," Koniika hadn't lied, her legs felt like mush and her arms were killing her.

Kagome sat in silence as she had finished wrapping the herbs. She then soundlessly stood up and set the herbs on a makeshift shelf. "Finally done, Koniika, would you like to come to the hot springs with me?"

Koniika jumped up, "Hai," She started for the door when Kaede had come in mumbling something about a geisha house and a monk. "Auntie Kay, what bothers you?"

"'tis not what bothers me, but the whole town, a young monk had come to the towns tavern and said that he had seen a dark cloud surrounding, he offered an program in turn for shelter for the night." Kaede sighed, "I knew that geisha house was trouble."

Koniika thought for a second, "Was the monk young and farley attractive?"

"Hai he was," Kaede said looking at the young hanyou , "Why?"

"That dirty man!" Koniika had rushed out the door and headed toward the newly built geisha house.

"What does she think she is doing?!" Inuyasha started after her, "Koniika get your ass back here!"

A/N I know the first chapter is short but it is full of information.... I can never live up to the great prologue so forgive me.

But I am sure the second chapter will be very interesting.... Maybe even more funny. .


End file.
